Wisdom of a Four-Year-Old

Ever since Sophie was very small, we've called fried eggs "cheesy eggs." Sophie initially thought the yolk in the middle of the egg was cheese, and the name just stuck. Hannah and Bella have grown up calling them the same thing, so that's just a term we use.

This morning, Mia was grumping around the kitchen complaining that nothing the pantry interested her for breakfast. "I only like like Fruity Pebbles, and nothing else," she told me. I asked her if she would like a scrambled egg for her breakfast.

"The yolk has to be showed up," she told me.

"A cheesy egg? One with cheese in the middle?" I asked her.

"Dad, it's called a yolk, not cheese. And it has to show up," she said pointedly.

I stand corrected, and I made the egg with yolk that shows up.

Viva Las Vegas

Justin and I just got back from a {much needed} Valentines Weekend getaway to Las Vegas. We had a wonderful time being 'adults', having no particular schedule to adhere to and catching up with some old friends! Here are a few shots from a weekend.

JTS and I on the strip before hitting the "dueling piano" bar at NYNY.



Me with one of my dearest friends, Kristi.



JTS and I out to dinner with my cousins, Justin and Stephanie.



JTS and I heading out to a wonderful Valentines dinner!

Sophie's Video - My Take

OK - we all knew this day would come, but not really prepared for my little girl discussing "women's products" nor for the Big Talk. Sophie still seems so innocent and naiive that I hate to see that go, but I know it will.

Of course, not sure what's more amusing, Sophie thinking her dogs need more hygeine, or her sisters making fun of her (and Sophie being completely ticked off about it) about the nice products the school nurse sent all the girls home with.

I think I'm going to move out for a few years until this all blows over.

My Daily Dose of Parenting

Today I got to go to Sophie's school {at her request} and view the 'puberty' video with her. When the note came home two weeks ago, she begged me not to sign it attempting to convince that she knew what she needed to know and did not need to be subjected to the embarrassment of having to view this video with her peers. Of course, I said, you don't know the half of it and you are going to watch it. So today was the big day and she was sweating bullets over this and asked if I would go with her. Let's just cut to the chase...Sophie, who thought she knew everything, nearly fell off her chair. It started off pleasant enough - talking about the importance of good hygiene during which Sophie proclaimed, "her dogs could use a lesson in hygiene!" Then we get to good ole' menstruation and the subsequent question regarding how babies are made asked by some innocent soul in her class. The school nurse, gave a very glossed over, talk to your parents kind of answer, but did elude to the fact that it takes a boy and a girl to do so. Fast forward to this afternoon when Sophie gets of the bus and asks me "So let me get this straight, you HAVE to "be" with a boy to have a baby?" I answer, "yes." Sophie answers, "Um, I am adopting all of my kids!"

Good, that's what we want to hear...at least for a good 10-12 more years!

I made it into Quest!

Feb. 8, 2010

Dear whoever is reading this,
There is a program at our school called Quest. You have to take a BIG LONG two hour test to get in. I took the test before Christmas and I passed the first part. The second part was a 10 page questionnaire. I had to fill it out and send it in. They got to pick who gets in. The people who got in are my friends Shane, Parker, and of course me. We get to go on Mondays and we will start going to Quest on February 22nd. We will take a bus and go to a different school for the day. We will get to do fun activities and learn about all sorts of neat things. I can't wait! I am so excited and grateful that I was one of the people that was chosen to get in!

One Smart Cookie

Lately I have been doing really great at school! Here is all my great stuff. I am tutoring Spanish girls in reading. Their names are Janeth and Alin. I also get to do flash cards with them. My next big news is that I was chosen to have pizza with Ms. Searle the principal. I got picked because I have been doing good things like listening and helping and being quiet in line. It was so much fun!!! And my picture got to be in the paper because of it. And that is all of my big news for now.

Mia

Because Mia isn't quite old enough to blog for herself, I've decided to blog for her {about her} today. As most of you know, Mia is quite a character and definitely keeps us on our toes. We thought this would be dissipating by now, but in fact as she nears the ripe age of 5 years, she seems to be gaining steam in the 'naughty' category. Some of her recent, favorite past times include {but most definitely are not limited to}: destroying her room in under 30 seconds {so she now gets locked out on a regular basis}; signing her name on EVERYTHING {i.e. walls, various pieces of furniture, other people's homework, etc.} and then denying or blaming it on one of her numerous imaginary friends; {my recent favorite} cutting the strings on our hardwood blinds and, last but certainly not least, excelling in the fine art of becoming a kleptomaniac, stealing anything and everything she can from anyone that wasn't smart enough to remember to lock their bedroom door when they left for the day.

Honestly, by child number four, we thought we'd been through it all {or at least enough}, but wow, she is definitely one that has us questioning if she is from the same gene pool.

The other night as we were {yet again} telling her how naughty she was, she asked Justin and I, "Is Santa watching?" To which we replied, "yes." And so it went..."Is Jesus watching?" {yes}...and the grand finale "Are the Jonas Brothers watching?" {mom and dad just stare at each other unable to respond}.

Dancing Machine

Aren't I beautiful? This is my head shot for the Utah Dance Fest. The Utah Dance Fest is a festival of dancing where it's also a competition against other dance teams. In the last couple of months, it has been crazy! Every where I looked there was dance classes. My last dance was called "Bailamos" which was a Spanish themed dance and our new dance is called "Crank It Up" and it is a hip hop routine. This summer I get to go to Las Vegas with my sister, Bella for dance camp. I feel very excited for what is coming up!

"Shootin Sophie"

In basketball I found out you have to be swift, sneaky and very positive you are going to make a basket. I've been through three nick names so far sliding Sophie, sneaky Sophie and shooting Sophie. Its hard knowing you've been going through nick names like crazy. My favorite name is shooting Sophie. Lets just go with I like making baskets. I have a tip for you USE YOU'RE HEAD!!!!!! It works I used mine it bounced in my arms, a teammate used hers it bounced in my arms it bounced off an opponents head and into my arms! It WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flashback Friday!

In honor of the upcoming Valentines Day - I found these gems. They are of Sophie's very first Valentine's Day. So, that would have made her just shy of 4 months old. Wow - time sure does fly!

Justin, Sophie & I were going out for a fancy family dinner...
no longer a "romantic" dinner for two.

Back in the saddle...

OK, we temporarily fell off the blogosphere, but we're back! Let the posting begin.